Without Law 5

by Eric Vall

  “I found an old grill and charcoal too at one of the houses in town,” Rolly smiled. “Figured we could actually grill up some meat properly.”

  “Damn,” I laughed. “When I said we would have a barbeque, I didn’t think you all would go all out.”

  “We get pretty bored without you around,” Anna smiled. “We figured you guys deserved a nice homecoming.”

  “I made some hamburger buns,” Betty smiled. “When Rolly told me they were planning a barbeque, I figured you might appreciate an actual burger.”

  “Betty, you are a saint,” Paige smiled.

  “Well I realize now I should have held out and conned you out of some chocolate,” Betty laughed.

  “Of course you can have some chocolate!” Paige exclaimed.

  “Did you get any dark chocolate?” Tara asked as she rummaged through the pile.

  “Yeah,” Paige grinned. “It’s in there somewhere. I figured your fancy taste buds might appreciate that.”

  “My fancy taste buds do, thank you,” Tara chuckled.

  “Let’s get this grill going,” I grinned. “I’m starving.”

  “I’ll grab us something to drink,” Anna said, and then she got up and headed to the kitchen.

  Rolly stood up, and I followed him to the grill, and a moment later Anna brought both Rolly and I each a cup of whiskey.

  “Thanks,” I smiled at the pretty redhead.

  “Thank me later,” she said with a wink.

  “I’ll be sure to do that,” I laughed, and then I set my cup down, retrieved a bag of coal, and poured some in the grill while Rolly held the top open.

  “The only thing that could make this better is a cold beer,” Rolly said after he lit the coal and watched it begin to smoke.

  “I’ll drink to that,” I grinned, and then I took a swig of whiskey.

  “You seem to be in a great mood,” Rolly commented. “I figured everyone would be more upset about the news from Burlington.”

  “I am upset,” I frowned. “But I’m also incredibly happy to be back home with you and the girls.”

  “Well I’m happy you’re home too,” Rolly said, and he clapped me on the shoulder. “And I’m sure whatever comes our way, we’ll be able to handle it.”

  “Yes, we will,” I agreed with the old man.

  “Here you go,” Betty smiled as she brought us a tray full of uncooked venison hamburger patties.

  “I figured they would just be small steaks,” I laughed. “Do we have a meat grinder I don’t know about?”

  “No,” Betty said with a wink. “But I do.”

  “Thank you, Betty,” I smiled at the old woman.

  “No problem,” she said. “Now I’m going to let you guys get to cooking, and I’m going to go enjoy some wine and chocolate with the girls.”

  Betty gave Rolly a kiss on the cheek, and the old man grinned as she walked away.

  “You should bring Betty around more often,” I laughed.

  “Well I don’t want to overstep,” Rolly said, but I could tell that he didn’t mind the idea.

  “We would all love to have her around,” I assured him.

  The grill had caught fire, and the burgers sizzled as Rolly dropped them on the grate.

  “Those smell amazing,” I said as Rolly covered the grill.

  “Betty made ‘em,” he told me with a smile. “She seasoned ‘em up and put in a few eggs to hold the meat together.”

  “She did good,” I grinned. “I’m gonna check in on the girls and get a refill, do you need one?”

  “Yes, please,” he said, and he handed me his cup.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told him, and I walked over to the unlit fire pit where the girls sat.

  “You need a couple refills?” Anna asked when she saw me approach.

  “Yeah,” I nodded, and I grabbed the whiskey bottle from the ground.

  “Isn’t the dark chocolate so much better with the wine?” Tara asked, and Betty nodded as she took a sip of the red drink.

  “Are we having a wine tasting?” I laughed.

  “Betty and I are,” Tara said, and she smirked at the rest of the girls. “Nobody else wanted to join us.”

  “I like milk chocolate,” Bailey shrugged, and she took a bite of a chocolate bar.

  “You better not spoil your dinner,” I warned them.

  “Chocolate can’t spoil dinner,” Betty smiled.

  “Yeah,” Tara nodded. “Besides, it’s an aphrodisiac.”

  “Like you need any of those,” Paige chuckled.

  “I’ll take some aphrodisiac,” I smiled and grabbed a bar of chocolate.

  “Don’t spoil your dinner,” Bailey mocked, and I gave her a little push on the shoulder as I walked by.

  “How are the burgers coming?” I asked Rolly, and I handed him his cup of whiskey.

  “Coming along nice,” he grinned. “I just flipped ‘em.”

  Once the burgers were done, we made our way back to the girls and Anna and Bailey went into the kitchen and retrieved the hamburger buns, along with some slices of tomato, onion, and lettuce. They also brought out some corn, potatoes, and beans they must have cooked earlier.

  “This looks amazing,” I smiled at the girls as I fixed my plate.

  “Thank you for cooking, Rolly,” Bailey told the old man with a smile.

  “No worries,” he said. “I’ve missed barbequing.”

  “So we’re going riding tomorrow, right?” Tara asked Bailey.

  “Oh definitely,” Bailey smiled. “I haven’t ridden in a long time.”

  “I enjoyed my ride here,” I smiled, and then I took a bite of my burger, and I could taste some dill and basil, and I wasn’t sure, but I thought I could taste some cayenne pepper too. The tomatoes were juicy, the onions were crisp, and the venison melted in my mouth as I chewed.

  “So how are the civilians doing?” Paige asked.

  “They’re good,” Anna said between bites.

  “Yeah,” Bailey smiled. “We got in some target practice, and they were pretty good.”

  “Not as good as you,” Betty told the small blonde.

  “No,” Bailey smiled and shook her head. “But they’re getting there.”

  “Did they get some garden areas set up?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Tara said. “And we set some traps for them and showed them how to reset them.”

  “Good,” I smiled.

  “Are you going to tell us how you got those horses now?” Anna asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I think I can do that,” I laughed, and then started the story of how Paige and I took out the guards.

  The rest of the night was filled with drinks and laughs, and we all stuffed ourselves on hamburgers. We would start a plan in the morning to save the civilians, but for the night we would remember our fourth pillar of survival. We all sat and talked until it was late, then we put the fire out, and I snuggled into bed with my girls around me.

  The girls fell fast asleep around me, but I found it hard to be tired when I thought of what we were dealing with. The Guard wouldn’t be able to hold back those refugees forever, and a hundred thousand people would be like a locust swarm of destruction. As much as I hated to consider it, my family might have to leave and find somewhere else to make our home. My team was well trained, but there was no way we could defend against a hundred thousand hungry mouths. Not to mention that it would be hard to kill innocent people whose only crime was being hungry.

  The farms would be the first to go, and I was sure the college wouldn’t be far behind.

  I looked around me and took in the sleeping forms of my girls, their breaths were steady around me, and I knew I had to protect them at all costs, even if that meant becoming the villain of my own story.

  End Notes

  Thank you for reading Without Law 5. I’ll start working on book 6 as soon as this book has 100 reviews. So please leave a nice review here.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Eric Vall